Halo 3
Halo 3 is a First Person Shooter video game, based on the science fiction events and settings in the Halo Universe. It was developed by Bungie Studios and published by Microsoft. Halo 3 was released on September 25th, 2007 for the Xbox 360. However, there is speculation that it will be released for PC, as the last two games both have. There is however a version that can run on PC, but the platform would need at least a terabyte of RAM. Halo 3, is the sequel and concluding part to Halo 2 which fully wraps up the current story arc that the previous two games told. It involves SPARTAN John-117 returning to Earth in order to stop the Prophet of Truth from activating The Ark which would result in the extermination of all sentient life in the galaxy. Shortly into the game he also has to contend with the arrival of the Flood on Earth, as well as retrieve Cortana from the clutches of the dreaded Gravemind. Even though the game does not progress directly on from the end of Halo 2's cliff-hanger, Halo: Uprising, a mini comic book series released by Marvel filled in the missing segments between Halo 2 and Halo 3 on Earth. Halo 3 was released on the long awaited September 25th in North America and Australia, the 26th in Europe, and the 27th in Japan. It has been rated M'' for Mature (blood, gore, violence, and mild language) by the wikipedia:Entertainment Software Rating ESRB, but only ''M 17+ Recommended for 17 years or older, not restricted-(this is only a rating for parental guidance) by the OFLC, but in many stores, like GameStop, ID was required because anyone under the age of seventeen is unable to buy a copy of Halo 3. Europe's PEGI rating system gave the game a '16+' rating, which serves as a guideline rather than as a rule. However the UK Release is rated 15 by the BBFC which means it is slightly easier to get a hold of. Controls Due to differences between the Xbox original and the 360 controller, and the addition of the new "equipment", the controls of Halo have been tweaked, players may need to adjust to the change, but it will be very easy to become flexible with the controls. Below is a list of default controls, and the corresponding buttons. There are also other sets of controls that can be used by players. Bumper Buttons: * Right bumper: Click-Reload, Hold-Pick up weapon, exchange equipment, get in/out of vehicle, activate. Also used to open doors in the Campaign Mode and multiplayer. * Left bumper: tap-switch grenades, reload (if dual-wielding) Hold-dual wield (when available). Triggers: * Right trigger: Fire weapon. * Left trigger: Throw grenade, fire weapon (if dual wielding), speed up (only in forge as the oracle). Thumbsticks: * Left thumbstick: Move (Forward, Back, Strafe Left, Strafe Right). ** Left thumbstick (click): Crouch. * Right thumbstick: Look/Aim (Up, Down, Left, Right). ** Right thumbstick (click): Activate, deactivate scope/zoom, returning to FPS mode in Theater mode. D-pad: * D-pad: Scroll through menu, up-team talk channel (Multiplayer), up-toggle Editor/Player mode (Forge), up-toggle flashlight (Campaign). A/B/X/Y Buttons: * A button: Jump/Select/Brake * B button: Melee/Back, detach mounted turret. * X button: Deploy/Activate equipment. * Y button: Switch weapons/ Friends Menu controls: *In the menus you can use the D-pad or left-stick to scroll through them. *You can use the left or right-trigger to jump to the top or bottom of the menus. Misc: * Hold Right Bumper/Left Bumper/Click-in Left Analog Stick/A/Down on D-Pad for 3 seconds: Lowers weapon. http://nikon.bungie.org/news.html?item=20252. * Hold Right Bumper/Left Bumper/Click-in Left Analog Stick/A/Up on D-Pad for 3 seconds: Makes current camera angle/position coordinates visible. With the assortment of Halo different styles, which sometimes require a lapse of concentration to press the needed button, many layouts have returned, such as the Southpaw, Legacy and Legacy Southpaw. There are also new layouts such as Default, Boxer, Green Thumb, Bumper Jumper, and Walkie Talkie. Campaign Campaign consists of 10 levels (9 playable + 1 tutorial), which tells the story of Halo 3. #Arrival - "Brace for impact." (Cutscene, non-playable) #Sierra 117- "Rise up. Start the fight." #Crow's Nest- "Clear the base, whatever it takes." #Tsavo Highway- "Mount up. Get to Voi." #The Storm- "Reclaim the city. Make a hole." #Floodgate - "Stop the infestation. Find Cortana." #The Ark- "Search the waste for the Cartographer." #The Covenant- "Breach the barrier. Stop Truth." #Cortana- "Cleanse High Charity. Save Cortana." #Halo- "Light Installation 04 the ring. Destroy the Flood. Finish The Fight." Plot The Heroic Map Pack is downloadable through Xbox Live Marketplace, previously bought for 800 points, now it is free. The maps included in this Map Pack are: *Foundry *Rat's Nest *Standoff Legendary Map Pack The Legendary Map Pack is downloadable through Xbox Live Marketplace for 800 Microsoft Points. Microsoft dropped the price on July 7, Bungie Day to 600 Microsoft Points and discontinued the previously included Bungie Pro bonus. The maps included in this Map Pack are: *Avalanche *Blackout *Ghost Town Bungie Day This map is downloadable through Xbox Live Marketplace for free. It released on 07/07/08, Bungie Day, as a free gift to the entire Halo 3 community around the world. *Cold Storage Mythic Map Pack These new maps have been mentioned or announced by Bungie, all with varying degrees of information. The following maps below have not been announced to be together in the Mythic Map pack, but Halo 3's Xbox.com achievement page was updated showcasing new achievements which some of the achievements had these map names on them. No exact release date has been made public as of yet. In the 10/10/08 Bungie Update, it was mentioned by Lukems that "The Mythic Map Pack will be made available via Xbox Live Marketplace in early 2009. “Winter,” as they say." *Assembly *Citadel *Heretic *Longshore *Orbital *Sandbox Appearance Service Tags The Service Tag is how you and your team can be identified quickly on the battlefield, instead of the long names and complex number combinations which are not suitable for battle situations that require quick tactical orders or communication. The service Tag is comprised of a letter followed by two numbers. A few examples of Service Tags are K90, C27 and A12. When certain specific Service Tag coding is entered for example I17 (117) an error message will appear stating "This Service Tag is currently in use by the UNSC" and to choose another. Another error message will happen when "N64" and "P52" (Nintendo 64 and Playstation 2) are entered but this is due to trademark infringement of the companies, and as a result the service tag will not be allowed. Similar error messages are shown if you put in "A55", "N00", "P00", "F00", "J00" and "T17" as they are offense references. According to Bungie, as of March 14th the most used Service Tags by players of Halo 3 are, in descending order, O07, M16, I69, P26, S80, H20, I87, and finally D13. The chances of two people having the same service tag on Xbox Live is 2574 to 1. Armor Permutations There are two player models which you can choose from, the standard Spartan model or an Elite model. Each model has several armor permutations which can be combined. All Armor permutations do not have any effects on gameplay. It is also rumored that a new helmet can be unlocked by completing all of the additional achievements which were added in a recent September update. But this new helmet has not yet been confirmed. Spartan *MJOLNIR Mark VI armor - The standard Spartan armor. *MJOLNIR Mark VI C variant - The Close Quarters Battle (CQB) armor. *MJOLNIR Mark VI V variant - The Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) armor. *MJOLNIR Mark VI EOD variant - The Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) armor. *MJOLNIR Mark VI A variant - The Rogue helmet. *MJOLNIR Mark VI S variant - The Scout armor. *MJOLNIR Mark VI R variant - The Recon armor. *MJOLNIR Mark V armor - The Halo: Combat Evolved helmet. *MJOLNIR Mark V m variant - The Security helmet and shoulders. *ODST armor - The Orbital Drop Shock Trooper helmet. *HAYABUSA armor - The rival to the MJOLNIR program armor. *Katana - HAYABUSA body armor with a katana on the back. *Bungie Armor - Makes the players helmet appear to be on fire. Currently the Recon Armor Permutation is only allowed to certain people who perform special and unique things, or is gifted the armor in Halo 3 by bungie employees. Another special variation is a Flaming helmet that only Bungie Employees are allowed to use. It is normally set so that in the mass of matches online, you as the player know that you are playing against a Bungie Employee. According to Bungie on March 14th 2008, Weekly Update; *'Most Popular Spartan Helmets are:' Mark VI, Rogue, Hayabusa, CQB and ODST. *'Most Popular Spartan Chestpieces are:' CQB, Hayabusa, Mark VI, EVA, EOD. Elite *Elite Combat Armor - The standard Elite armor. *Special Operations rank. *Ranger rank. *Elite Commando Armor - The Commando Elite armor. *Elite Ascetic Armor - The Ascetics Elite armor. The armour of the arbiter is only wearable in the two or four player campaign mode. Emblems An Emblem is a highly customizable image that appears on the right arm of a Spartan and the back an Elite. There are thousands of possibilities for your emblem! Emblems also show your teammates what Spartan you are. This was made by the ONI Research Center of the Spartan Program and has no use at all since the Spartans can check each other through Service Tags, so Emblems are just an addition. According to Bungie on March 14th 2008, Weekly Update; *'Most Popular Emblems:' Phoenix, Jolly Roger, Valkyrie, Crossed Sword and Champion Colors There are 10 base and primary colors, each with three shades of one another that are used to customize your multi player color and emblem. On the armor detail color, there is a small painted VI (most noticeable on Mark VI shoulder), and there is a stripe on the Spartans' leg. *''Steel, '''Silver', and White *''Red, '''Mauve', and Salmon *''Orange, '''Coral', and Peach *''Gold, '''Yellow', and Pale *''Sage, '''Green', and Olive *''Teal, '''Aqua', and Cyan *''Blue, '''Cobalt', and Sapphire *''Violet, '''Orchid', and Lavender *''Crimson, '''Rubine', and Pink *''Brown, '''Tan', and Khaki *'Black' can still be used but, only in Forge or Custom games types, as a forced player color under general settings. According to Bungie on the March 14th 2008, Weekly Update; *'Most Popular Primary Colors:' Steel, White, Blue, Green and Sage *'Least Popular Primary Colors:' Lavender, Pale, Salmon, Peach and Mauve Matchmaking Matchmaking is where people can play with and against each other through a specially designed search system and multiple playlists. In Matchmaking EXP and Skill can be earned to raise ranks. You have a highest skill which cannot be taken away. But your current skill level can decrease if you play poorly in that variant. Playlists Playlists are lists of different game variations from free-for-all to team games. They are split into Ranked, Social, Hardcore, Community, DLC, Tournaments and Double EXP Weekends. The Community Playlist returned on July 7, 2008 with the release of the map Cold Storage. Ranked The Ranked playlists are the more serious playlists. Skill can be raised and EXP can be gained. *Lone Wolves - Various gametypes free for all up to eight players. *Team Slayer - Slayer based gametypes with two teams of three to four players. *Team Objective - Objective based gametypes with two teams of three to four players. *Team Doubles - Slayer based gametypes with two teams of two players. *Squad Battle - Various gametypes with two team of six designed to fill some of the void left by excising Ranked Big Team Battle from the Halo 3 Playlists. Social The Social playlists are the more relaxed playlists. EXP can be gained and guests are allowed. *Rumble Pit - Various gametypes free for all up to six players. *Big Team Battle - Various gametypes with two teams of five to eight players. This playlist has been retired. *Social Slayer - Slayer based gametypes with two teams of three to four players. *Social Skirmish - Objective based gametypes with two teams of four to five players. *Multi-Team Various gametypes with four teams of two players. (This includes the "Rocket Race" gametype since the original playlist has retired.) Hardcore The Hardcore playlists are the more realistic and competitive playlists. Skill can be raised and EXP can be gained. *Head to Head - Slayer, Oddball and King of the Hill gametypes free for all up to two players. This playlist has been retired. *MLG - Various MLG gametypes on MLG map variants with two teams of three to four players. The MLG map variants were updated to v5 in the June 2008 playlist update. *Team SWAT - SWAT, SWAT Magnums and SHwatguns in which you start with just a Shotgun and no grenades, with two teams of three to four players. DLC The DLC playlists are focused on maps from all downloadable map packs. EXP can be gained and guests are allowed. *DLC Slayer - Slayer based games on Avalanche, Blackout, Ghost Town, Standoff, Foundry, Rat's Nest and Cold Storage with two teams of three to four players. This playlist has been retired. *DLC Objective - Objective based games on Avalanche, Ghost Town, Standoff, and Rat's Nest with two teams of five to six players. This playlist has been retired. *DLC FFA - Various gametypes with free for all up to eight players. Added in the Sept update. *DLC Big Team - Various gametypes with two teams of eight. Added in the Sept update. Tournaments The Tournaments are temporary playlists involving prizes. Skill can be raised and EXP can be gained. *Living Dead - Infection up to thirteen players. *Valentines Day - Various gametypes with two teams of two. *US Championship - Various gametypes free for all up to six players. *INTL - Various gametypes free for all up to six players. Community This playlist made a comeback as of July 7, 2008; with the free release of the map Cold Storage, but was taken off by July 11. EXP can be gained and guests are allowed. *Icy Treats - Various gametypes of free for all on the newly released map Cold Storage. Double EXP Weekend The Double EXP Weekend variants are temporary playlists involving new gametypes. The double amount of EXP can be gained and guests are allowed. *Grifball - Neutral Assault on a Foundry map variant with two teams of three to four players. *Living Dead - Infection up to thirteen players. *Legendary Brawl - Various gametypes on Standard, Heroic and Legendary maps free for up to twelve players. *Cinco De Mayo - Various gametypes with random weapons on Standard, Heroic and Legendary Maps. *Team Snipers - Sniper based Team Slayer on Standard, Heroic and Legendary maps. *Rockets - Rocket based gametypes free for up to eight players. *3 Ball - Oddball with 3 Oddballs and four teams of three players. *Team Melee - A variety of gametypes featuring Melee weapons Gravity Hammer and/or the Energy Sword. *Rocket Race - A VIP variant in which a team of 2 players must reach certain objective before the opposing team does, While riding in a mongoose and scoping out the other using Rocket Launchers. Veto The Veto system is new for the Halo franchise. Vetoing a map and game type is a very useful thing these days. It's also easy. In a game, after the map and game type loads for each player, a 10 second countdown starts. If the majority of players (More than half the total amount of players) in the match decide to veto, by pressing the (X) button, before the countdown ends, a different Map and gametype from the playlist will be selected to be played on. For Example: If there are a total of eight people in the game (z classic four versus four), and five or more people veto, the map and game type will change. If only four or less players veto, however the map and gametype will remain and be played on. If a map and gametype is vetoed, the option to veto will be lost during the next countdown. Sometimes you will see the map and gametype change, but you still get the veto option, this is just because the host's connection cannot support the map, or if anyone in the party cannot play the map. When this happens, you still have the right to veto the next map and game type. However, you cannot veto on a couple of gametypes such as Grifball. NOTE: On certain gametypes, like Team SWAT, the gametype will be rarely change from only three types, but from no lack of maps, the map will certainly change. Ranks The ranking system is based on real military ranks. To progress in Rank, players must earn the required amount of EXP. For Officer ranks, players must also reach a certain skill level in a ranked playlist. If a player earns a certain amount of experience, but does not reach the required skill level to reach the next officer rank, they will instead be promoted to a higher grade of their current rank (For example, A Major who earns 300 EXP but does not have a skill level of 35 will be promoted to Major, Grade 2). Each Officer rank has a "final" grade which is represented by a unique name instead of a number. Gunnery Sergeant also has this feature. Be warned, when you reach you're final grade you will be expected by other players to be bad or not play as well as others in Matchmaking. Halo 3 uses the Trueskill system created by Microsoft to determine skill level in ranked playlists. Enlisted Ratings *Recruit *Apprentice (grades 1 and 2) *Private (grades 1 and 2) *Corporal (grades 1 and 2) *Sergeant (grades 1, 2, and 3) *Gunnery Sergeant (grades 1, 2, 3, and Master Gunnery Sergeant) Officer Ratings *Lieutenant (grades 1, 2, 3, and First Lieutenant) *Captain (grades 1, 2, 3, and Staff Captain) *Major (grades 1, 2, 3, and Field Major) *Commander (grades 1, 2, 3, and Strike Commander) *Colonel (grades 1, 2, 3, and Force Colonel) *Brigadier (grades 1, 2, 3, and Brigadier General) *General (grades 1, 2, 3, and Five Star General) Custom Games In the Custom Games Lobby you can choose the gametypes and maps you have made and want to play with your friends, these include Custom Game types and Map Variants. These games don't give you exp but they are still fun. Standard Game Types *Slayer - Kill your enemies. Kill your friends' enemies. Kill your friends. *Oddball - Hold the skull to earn points. It's like a Hamlet, with guns. *King of the Hill - Control the hill to earn points. Earn points to win. It's good to be king. *Capture the Flag - Invade your opponent's stronghold, seize their flag, and return it to your base to score. *Assault - Carry your bomb to the enemy base, plant it, and defend it until it detonates. *Territories - Defend your territory and control the land. Teams earn points for territories they control. *Juggernaut - If you meet the Juggernaut, kill the Juggernaut. *Infection - The timeless struggle of human versus zombie. If you die by a zombie's hand, you join their ranks. *VIP - One player on each team is Very Important. Take down the enemies VIP for points, but take care of your own. Custom Game types In Halo 3, there are a number of options that can be changed. Press X in the lobby to change the default options, when changing press X again to save as custom game type. Options that can be changed: *Damage resistance *Shield multiplier *Shield recharge rate *Immune to headshots *Grenade counts (Grenade Regeneration, on or off) *Infinite ammo *Weapon pickup (Enabled, Disabled) *Player speed **(25%, 50%, 75%, 90%, 100%, 110%, 125%, 150%, 200%, 300%) *Player gravity **(50%, 75%, 100%, 200%) *Vehicle use (Full Use, Passenger only, None) *Motion tracker (off, friendlies only, normal, enhanced) **Range (10m, 25m, 75m, 100m, 150m) *Indestructible vehicles (On, off) *Player forced Colors (Like Black or Zombie) **Meaning all players in game will be forced to the color of your choice. *Over shields and active camouflage can be given to a certain team/player or everyone on spawn or re-spawn. Forge Forge is an "object editor" that can be used to edit multiplayer maps. It does not allow as much freedom to edit/make maps as a pc map editor, such as the Halo: Custom Edition and Halo 2 Vista editing kits. You can, however, edit objects, spawn points, weapons, and properties of objects on the map, etc. And, when playing a map on forge, players may take control as a monitor (very similar to 343 Guilty Spark) and will obtain the ability to spawn weapons, vehicles and objects in-game, as well as move/adjust them too.You can also get more forging items if you get any of the new map packs from bungie, Map Variants To save a Map Variant while playing forge, press Start and select save changes to overwrite the previous Map Variant or select Save As and give it a name. If it doesn't say save changes just save it as a new one and just call it a different name and delete the other one you made. Theater The Theater mode allows players to save films from the Campaign, Multiplayer, and Forge, and also get film clips and screen shots. This feature of Halo 3 has been exploited for making Machinima videos and Montages. Films Saved Films allow a player to view any game, campaign or multiplayer, from any angle. It uses game data to re-create the games, which makes file sizes very small (5 MB for a 15 minute multiplayer match). In the film, you can either watch your own player play through the entire mission or you can go a different way: bird's eye view. You can go anywhere you want, but they will limit your movement so that you cannot fly as high as possible or go very far from your character. You can also fast forward or rewind the film so that you can relive the parts you missed. On Campaign you can't rewind the film. Only your previous 25 games will be saved under the recent films category on your console. Older films will be deleted. (Note: If you haven't received the February Auto-Update, after your first 25 film slots are filled, about 1 out of the 3-5 films in future will only be saved due to a glitch. The AU fixes this glitch however. Clips When playing a film you record a particular part of the film from any angle you want. Doing this allows you to look back at your greatest moments without having to watch the entire film, however, sometimes the HUD will not show up in a first person view, or the time bar showing the elapsed time appears, which is normally a problem because it normally can't be removed or the HUD can't be brought up for the start of the clip. If you would like to make a clip in FPS mode, but you accidentally get out of it, or switch to another player, you can just click on the right thumbstick to return to FPS mode. You cannot record clips of campaign films, but you can take screenshots. If you are in a party viewing a film, you will not be able to record clips, nor take screenshots. Screenshots Screenshots can be taken in any kind of film; all screenshots taken by Xbox Live players are sent to Bungie.net via the Internet. You must be in single-player theater or film to take a screenshot. If your're screenshot is favored by many and also Bungie employees they may put it on Bungie Favorites. Soundtrack The Halo 3: Original Soundtrack was composed by Martin O'Donnell with the help of Michael Salvatori and was released on November 20, 2007. It is a two-disc set featuring all the music heard in-game, in order of appearance. As the Halo: Original Soundtrack, the music is in more of a medley format. However, similar to the Halo 2: Original Soundtrack Volume 2, tracks are divided into 'suites' corresponding to each level in the game. A number of bonus tracks and a third-party song will be contained on the second disc of the album: 'LvUrFR3NZ' by Princeton. Previews of the Halo 3: Original Soundtrack can be heard on the official site http://www.halo3ost.com/. Marketing Promotions Viral Marketing On June 11th, 2007, at 10:26AM PDT, a viral marketing campaign for Halo 3 started, called "Iris". Trailers Announcement Trailer At E3 2006, Bungie released their announcement trailer. It required long hours and hard work from many, many Bungie staffers, and utilizes real-game assets, fiction and locations from parts of the "real" game. It shows John-117 walking through some wreckage of the New Mombasa space elevator with Cortana appearing at several intervals to give her lines. He then stops at the edge of a cliff where the Covenant forces are hovering over a Forerunner structure (believed to be the Ark). The trailer ends with the Forerunner structure opening and firing a beam of light. The Trailer fueled speculation about what was going to happen in the game, particularly Cortana's last line in the trailer: "This is the way the world ends,"Please have Cortana's lines pronounced so that I don't see 36 threads about it. "I have defied gods and demons." "I am your shield, I am your Sword." "I know you, your past, your future." "This is the way the world ends." Frankie --Weekly Update May 12, 2006 which references the first of the Cortana Letters. The line itself refers to wikipedia:T. S. T. S. Eliot's The Hollow Men, which ends: :This is the way the world ends :Not with a bang but a whimper. Cortana's emphasis on "this" implies she is rejecting the poem, and that the world will end with a bang - likely referring to the Halo installations being activated. Starry Night Trailer Starry Night Trailer was released on December 4, 2006 with its format designed for TV Ads. It shows two children staring at the stars talking about whether there are aliens before switching to a dazed Master Chief recovering from some form of blast. Once he gets back on his feet, he uses a Bubble Shield to defend himself from an incoming Wraith plasma mortar and then charges forward, eventually jumping over a cliff into a swarm of Covenant Loyalists. It has been rumored that the two kids are John and Kelly when they where young. E3 2007 Trailer The final trailer for Halo 3 was released during E3 2007. Unlike the others, this trailer focused on showing various gameplay and movie clips. While the trailer did little to further knowledge about the Halo 3, it confirmed many speculations about the game, the least of which was that the Arbiter and the Master Chief will fight alongside one another in the game at some point. Believe Believe is a Microsoft marketing campaign for Halo 3. It features the word "Believe" as a tag line, and appears to be honoring the legacy of SPARTAN-117, citing him as a hero of the United Nations Space Command Defense Force whose brave actions inspired other servicemen during the Human-Covenant War. It has also been cited that it has been linked to the popular message board Neogaf. Landfall Halo: Landfall is a trilogy of short films designed to promote Halo 3 as well as test the potential for a live-action Halo Movie. Halo 3: Recon for Halo 3. The trailer opens up on a security camera in New Mombassa. It shows several scenes of destruction before turning upward and showing several HEV Pods fall towards the city. It first appeared on Bungie.net. It now has circulated through YouTube and other video hosting websites. It is possible that Recon is a squad-based shooter and you play as a Marine Commander. It is also speculated that it just adds new missions to the middle/end of Halo 3. Bungie recently started that the expansion is set to be released in the Fall of 2009. Products and Collectibles *Halo 3: Collector's Edition. *Halo 3: Legendary Edition. *Halo 3 Spartan Edition Controller *Halo 3 Covenant Edition Controller. *Mountain Dew Game Fuel is a new version of Mountain Dew soda which was released on August 13th, 2007 and was available for 12 weeks. *Bungie has worked with Jasman Toys and they will be showcasing the new Halo Laser Tag Replica Guns. *Halo 3 Action Figures. *There is a Halo 3 edition of the Xbox 360. It was released on September 16th, and has other things in the box like a wired Halo 3 headset. But it only has 20 gigabytes. *The Halo 3 Zune is a Zune in a Halo Trilogy-theme. It features Halo content in many media formats. Included in the Zune, are trailers, music, and artwork, from the critically acclaimed Halo series and a special Red vs Blue episode. *Halo 3 scale replica weapons. These are just ornaments and are not toys. *Burger King announced a Halo 3 Promotion from a Microsoft press release on August 9th, 2007 including limited edition FRYPODS and 42 oz drink cups. *Halo ActionClix including special figures like brute jump pack, Master Chief with dual Spikers, brute stalkers, and a few others. Reviews and Reaction Halo 3 has received mainly positive reviews from both the online gaming sites and country specific magazines. Each review has praised it, stating "the winning formula is still apparent" with "multiplayer constantly surprising and engaging", while new features of Forge and Saved Films were singled out as particularly interesting new features. The Campaign was considered by many to be a negative, with many pointing out it is "too short", the artificial intelligence of the player's allies were referred to as "Cannon Fodder" with most of the time no reason to have them on your team, and the graphics was highlighted saying some Human characters and textures were "embarrassing" to look at not to mention a little over done. Halo 3 has won a number of awards from its first release date: *''Spike TV Awards: Best Multiplayer Game, Most Addictive Video Game Fueled by Dew. *TIME: Game of the Year. http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/top10/article/0,30583,1686204_1686305_1692236,00.html *Geezer Gamers: Geezer Game of the Year, Multiplayer Game of the Year. *Gametrailers: 2007's Best Xbox 360 Game of the Year. Trivia *Halo 3'' is the only game in the trilogy to: **Have a Forge feature. **Hear the Master Chief's real name "John" uttered for the first and only time in the playable side of the Halo series on the Halo 3 level 'Halo' (i.e., Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2). **Allow the player to choose different pieces of armor, for their multi-player character. **Allow the player to start from specific parts in the level. ***Also in addition, certain Easter Eggs can only be seen from starting at specific parts in the levels. **Have a theater mode, which allows the player to watch the level you just played. ***Theater mode is able to be used in all modes of Halo 3 Campaign, Multi-player and Forge to help people see prime sniping points, glitching and even help in their search for the Skulls. ***It also allows you to take screen shots and record small clips. **Have portable equipment. **Have a "Meta-game" system that tracks each kill using points, and gives you easier access to Skulls. **An online 4-player campaign mode. **A rocket race game variant. ---- *The alliance with the Hunters was strangely broken for an unknown cause *On the legendary ending after the credits, the lights on the planet form the Marathon symbol, a Bungie trademark. *For Christmas 2006, Microsoft and Bungie gave the U.S. soldiers in Iraq a chance to play the Halo 3 multi-player public pre-alpha. http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/12501/US-Soldiers-Get-to-Play-Halo-3-Beta-Footage-Leaked/ *On the Cops & Robbers commercial for the 360 at the Xbox Live Marketplace, one of the license plates says HA LO307, a.k.a Halo 3 07. *The game has 39,377 lines of dialogue, most of them randomly triggered during game play. Halo Dialogue Statistics, from the source - HBO, November 12, 2007 *In several of Cortana's messages to the Chief, she quotes Dr. Halsey's lines from the book, Halo: The Fall of Reach. This is logical considering Cortana was created with a flash clone of Dr. Halsey's brain. *In the level,The Covenant, a secret piece of music is played, called Siege of Madrigal, this is a nod to Myth, an older Bungie game. The music has appeared in the previous games, Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2, and require almost similar conditions of Halo: CE which require the player to go to an obscure area to hear. How to reach the area on Halo 3 is shown here. *The original Halo 3 (before the TU2 patch) contains 49 achievements, which is a seven reference 7x7=49, and these together are worth 1000 gamerscore points. *To date, the Campaign kill count which players play Campaign mode online, surpassed the current Human population on Earth. On Bungie.net, players tried to reach 7 billion campaign kills before Bungie day (7/7) in reference and homage to the iconic, number 7. They succeeded in reaching the kill count but only a few days after the deadline. *Argos, a UK retail store, started accidentally selling copies of the game one week prior to the actual release date. All Halo 3 products were removed from shelves when the store realized it's mistake. Unfortunately, a number of copies still made it into the hands of the public and a video showcasing the ending made it onto YouTube, spoiling the ending for a lot of people. *''Halo 3'' multi-player was shown at the Penny Arcade Expo as the final round of the Omegathon and showed the level Guardian before its release date. *''Halo 3'' game play footage can be seen in an episode of The Sarah Connor Chronicles as well as in the feature film Jumper, although in Jumper an original X-Box controller is used for the movie. *''Halo 3'' game play is featured in the music video for the song Beggin' by Madcon. *''Halo 3'' was released on the 25 of the month it was released for the US. 2+5=7 another reference to the number * In the new movie Eagle Eye, the two main characters venture into a Circuit City, where they receive shocking news. In the background before they enter a room, you can see a Halo 3 promotional poster behind them. Category:Video Games